SOME OF THE ARTIFACTS from World War I are on display at Smith County Historical Society Museum, 125 S. College Ave. The society's publication, Chronicles of Smith County, Texas, also is devoted to telling the story of the county during the war.

A special issue of Smith County Historical Society’s publication “Chronicles of Smith County, Texas,” is devoted to telling stories of the county during World War I.

Seventeen historians researched and wrote about most every facet of the war from a Smith County perspective.

“Most contributions examine how people in Smith County reacted to and supported the fighting that raged 5,000 miles away in the trenches of the Western Front,” Matthew M. Stith said in the publication’s forward. “But they all serve as indisputable proof that war, especially global war, is not simply waged with bayonets in distant lands.

“As this special issue makes clear, combatants need not be in the trenches to fight,” he wrote.

Story topics include participation of African-Americans in the war, letters from

overseas by some of the men who fought, efforts and sacrifices made in the county to support the war and the county’s celebration of Armistice Day.

About 700 men from Smith County were drafted to serve in the war and more than 40 died either in combat or from catching a disease while in service, according to the publication.

Chronicles can be purchased for $25 at the Smith County Historical Society Museum and Archives, 125 S. College Ave., or smithcountyhistoricalsociety.org.

The special publication coincides with an exhibition of World War I memorabilia and artifacts on view at the recently restored museum housed in Tyler’s Carnegie Library building.

The artifacts on view include uniforms and gear servicemen carried onto the battlefield, certificates the government issued to recognize valor in military service and personal belongings of some of the men who fought.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The nonprofit organization meets for fellowship and to hear a speaker at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month at the museum. Members pay annual dues.